1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to digital systems (such as mobile devices, processors, memory devices, and computer systems) and, more particularly, to mechanisms and techniques to secure the devices by controlled generation of clocks.
2. Brief Description of the Related Technology
Electronic digital computational devices like computers, laptops, netbooks, PDAs, memories, handheld, smart phones, and mobile digital devices (collectively called ‘Mobile Devices’) have become the critical part of many businesses. In the personal lives, they have become essential tools of practically everyone, touching nearly all aspects of life. Availability and affordability of these devices have resulted in them being used in many business and personal applications. With this popular trend, comes the need for securing these Mobile Devices.
In a business atmosphere, these Mobile Devices frequently contain secure information that relates to the businesses. The Mobile Devices typically have the ability to connect to the servers and enterprise information technology infrastructure (collectively called ‘Enterprise Server’) to communicate and access information on the server. They also store and retain confidential information on their local storage units.
In personal life, these devices contain personal information some of which is sensitive. With the information available in these devices, people are prone to be victims of crimes such as identity theft, if the device falls into wrong hands. Mobile Devices are also used more and more to conduct financial transactions increasing the potential risks.
These Mobile Devices are inherently prone to being misplaced, dropped, lost, or stolen. Potential compromise of data retained internally is resulting in high risk for both business and personal applications.
In a business environment, perpetrators can also access the Enterprise Server by using these lost devices. It is possible to compromise the entire IT infrastructure of a business by lost Mobile Devices.
There is a critical need for comprehensive security solutions that secure both transmitted and stored information in the Mobile Devices. Development of a suitable security solution will demand creativity and innovation as the resultant approach must be viable and at the same time not add significantly to the Mobile Devices' computational load or otherwise degrade device functionality and responsiveness.
There are many security mechanisms for securing Mobile Devices. The first and foremost is protecting the devices with passwords. This simple technique can protect both the Enterprise Server and the Mobile Device from casual intrusions. However, this will not be able effective against serious hackers.
There are several data encryption techniques that are used in high-end laptop and desktop computers. However, these are not best suited for Mobile Devices, as the computational workload may be excessive. Similarly, addition of available wireless network encryption hardware is undesirable as battery run-time is yet another issue that is critical in Mobile Devices. Added hardware will shorten device runtime and increase the frequency of recharge.
It is critical to avoid adverse impact on device's power and real estate when securing Mobile Devices. Security mechanisms should not hinder the performance of Mobile Devices, reduce the battery life, or increase their physical size.
For business applications, industry has introduced techniques like Remote Wiping to protect Mobile Devices. This typically involves the Enterprise Server wiping out the Mobile Device clean when potential hackers activate the lost Mobile Device. This technique is effective in protecting the Enterprise Server from many potential perpetrators. However, there are several vulnerabilities with this technique. The information on the Mobile Device can be stolen without activating the device. A technically savvy hacker may be able to access the Enterprise Server without activating Mobile Device by using the information contained in the Mobile Device. Also, this technique is not beneficial for standalone Mobile Devices that are common in personal applications.
Some Mobile Devices have hardware keys such as an USB device or a RF key to protect them from potential hackers. These can be cumbersome to the normal user and also present the opportunity of being stolen or lost along with the Mobile Device.
A more secure mechanism is desirable for security critical applications. To provide a high level of security, using complex algorithms and encryption algorithms in software will be power and resource prohibitive in Mobile Device. Alternative to software techniques are the hardware techniques that can provide higher level of security. However, using special hardware techniques by adding hardware into Mobile Devices is not acceptable due to power and resource constraints.
It will be advantageous to have simple techniques that will enable robust security, yet, not compound the resource and power issues of Mobile Devices. Towards keeping the resource requirement to a minimum, it will be advantageous for any new mechanism to make use of existing resources in the Mobile Devices.
It is possible to use the power management schemes of the Mobile Devices to secure it. One possibility is to use the clock disabling mechanism of the power management scheme to lock the Mobile Device when a security breach is detected. While this uses the existing resources within the Mobile Device, it will not assist in power reduction.
It will be advantageous to have a security locking mechanism that will also help in Mobile Device operation such as power management, performance, and speed.